Beneath Outback Skies by Alissa Callen

Blurb - A captivating
rural  romance featuring an indomitable young woman determined to save her family farm,  and the city-boy who is not all he seems...Paige Quinn will let
nothing and no  one distract her from caring for her wheelchair-bound father, Connor, and  fighting for her remote, drought-stricken property, Banora Downs. Least of all a  surprise farm-stay guest named Tait Cavanaugh, whose smooth words are as lethal  as his movie-star smile. Except Paige can’t help noticing that, for a city-boy,  Tait seems unexpectedly at home on the land. And he does ask a lot of  questions…It doesn’t matter how much he helps out or how much
laughter he brings  into her life, she soon suspects he is harbouring a big
secret – the real reason  he has come to Banora Downs…

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Alissa is giving out a e-copy of her book  What Love Sounds Like for commenters who can answer this question. Question: Do you have, or have you ever had, a special pet in your life?

Alissa Callen live in Australia and writes about it. So what makes Australia a great place for romance.

Five reasons why the Australian Outback is  a perfect setting for a romance novel …
1. The Aussie Outback is spectacular – from  ochre red dust to brilliant blue skies, to cream-trunked gum trees, to bleached  grasses, the colour palette provided by rural Australia is breath taking.

 2.Just like in the Old West, the outback fosters a special type of community spirit as people band together to survive no  matter what Mother Nature might throw at them – fires, floods or droughts.

 3.There are cowboys (and cowgirls). Need I say any more

 4.Stories set in the Outback may also contain  animals, whether they are horses, mischievous puppies or even in my current WIP  a goat who believes she is a dog.

 5.The Outback with its endless horizons, starlit night skies and sense of space is a place where past hurts can heal and dreams come true.


  excerpt – Chapter one-

    Unless  this city boy is on a first-name basis with the rain gods, I’m not showing him  around Banora Downs.’
    Paige Quinn’s quiet, measured words fell like much-needed 
rain into the silence of her father’s study.
    I know how hard you work, how busy you are, but I’ve
given  my word this man can stay.’ Lines of tension mapped Connor Quinn’s creased  features. His strong shoulders were braced beneath the red-checked cotton of his  best shirt. ‘Possum … I’m sorry.’
   Her Akubra crumpled beneath her tight grip. She’d been out droving hungry cattle in the long paddock for a fortnight. In such time it looked as though her father had aged a decade.
  ‘ It’s okay, Dad. You can’t control fate. Can’t make life fair.’Her gentle tone failed to return colour to her father’s hollowed cheeks. They both knew she wasn’t talking about the endless blistering Australian summer.
   ‘We can do this. We can survive.’ Conviction echoed in her words like her footsteps upon the floorboards as she approached her father’s desk. ‘Just as we’ve always done. Just the two of us.’ She placed her hat upon the time-worn mahogany. ‘We don’t need some paying guest’s cash.’
   She may as well have been talking to one of the garden statues that now presided over old tools in the shed, instead of lush lawns and 
 fragrant flower beds. The only movement in her father’s expression was his eyes as they glanced from her face to her hat. She shifted on her feet. The sun-bleached felt would look pristine compared with her torn-around-the-edges appearance. Her faded emerald-green shirt was caked in ochre dust, her jeans so stiff they could walk by themselves to the laundry
    Her father lowered his hands and the sinews of his forearms  flexed as he manoeuvred his wheelchair out from behind the desk.
    ‘Yes, we do. We haven’t had a wheat crop for five years. We’ve few cattle left to sell.’ She steeled herself so the reality of how  much they did have left wouldn’t show on her face. ‘This drought has hit us hard. We need money to eat … to live.’
   She swallowed down her hunger. The meagre slice of toast 
she’d eaten around her dawn campfire was little more than a memory.
   ‘We’ll make do. You know what happened with the last city-slicker. He had three showers a day and drained the tank. Not to mention 
our phone bill because his mobile didn’t have reception. As for the time he went  for a walk and we had to organize a bloody search party …’ She knelt to grasp  her father’s hands. ‘This man will be just the same. He’ll be nothing but trouble. We don’t have the diesel to drive him to town. We don’t have the cash for his lobster and caviar.’
   ‘ If it helps,’ a deep-timbred voice sounded from the doorway behind her, ‘I’m allergic to seafood.’
    Paige stiffened. Only the firm grasp of her father’s hands prevented her from spinning around. ‘Paige,’ her father murmured as if she were 
six years old again, ‘play nice.’ A flicker of humour lit his eyes. ‘We want our  guest to leave with good memories, not with his arm in a cast. Okay?’
   She kinked a brow. ‘You do remember cousin Charles fell out  of the tree all by himself, don’t you?’
   Her father winked and eased his grip on her hands.
   She straightened and spun on her boot heels to see a tall man stride into the room.
   She met eyes as blue as the water that haunted her dreams. For a nanosecond she drowned in their cool, clear depths. Then the stranger’s scent hit her. Top-shelf aftershave. Hand-crafted leather. Money. Three things as foreign to her world as dust, dehydration and desperation were to him.
    It didn’t matter if the price tag for keeping his thick, dark hair city-short would feed them for days. It didn’t matter if the muscles beneath the fine weave of his blue chambray shirt were exactly what she needed to fix the broken fence. This paying guest wasn’t welcome. The outback was no place for the inexperienced or the foolhardy. Even more so when rain was non-existent. Everything was thirsty and bad-tempered. Stock. Snakes. Humans. There was no way this man could stay the weekend.
   He stopped in front of her and offered his hand. ‘Tait Cavanaugh.’
   Her arm lifted as though it were anchored by a heavy weight. ‘Paige Quinn.’
  His clean, smooth palm slid against her smaller, work-roughened one. A smile laced his eyes with laughter and light. She pulled her hand away. Unless this man’s charm made it rain, he and his high-wattage grin were as useful as stilettos in a cattle yard.
   She inclined her head towards Connor. ‘I believe you’ve spoken with my father, Connor Quinn?’
   Yes, I’ve already had the pleasure over the phone.’ He extended a hand towards the older man. ‘You were right on the money. The V12
  engine did the trip in just under eight hours.’
   The men exchanged a lengthy, vigorous handshake. She ground  her teeth. A masculine love-fest of all things automotive wasn’t part of
her  eviction plan. Not only would Tait deplete their water supply, he’d also soak up  her time – time she needed to hide the true state of Banora Downs’ affairs from  her father. She’d promised her mother she would take care of him and he had  enough to deal with without the added burden of the farm. The trading of his  cane for his wheelchair told her just how much his legs troubled him. V12 engine  or not, this man, his fancy vehicle and his easy grin had to go. No matter how  much money he was paying. Or how much her father’s expression had lightened in  the past few minutes. Exhaustion pressed upon her shoulders.
   ‘Mr Cavanaugh, your being allergic to seafood does help. We  don’t have insurance. So it’ll be in both our best interests if you stayed
  elsewhere.’ She pushed her lips into what she hoped qualified as a smile. ‘I personally will arrange accommodation in another farm-stay closer to town.’
   "I wouldn’t want to cause trouble.’
  ‘Oh, it’s no trouble. Believe me.’ She inclined her head towards the phone on the office bench. Her fingers curled into a fist at the urge to reach for the handset. ‘It just so happens I have the farm-stay’s 
number on speed-dial.’
   ‘I bet you do.’ His chuckle failed to disguise the determination clipping his words. ‘But you won’t need any insurance. I’m a good 
 boy scout and brought my emergency adrenaline EpiPen.’ The corner of his mouth kicked into a half-grin. ‘I’m sure you’ll have no trouble sticking a needle into  me.’
   She compressed her lips to stifle a smile.
   Gorgeous. Witty. Used to getting his own way.
   This city pretty-boy wasn’t even  staying a day.

Author Alissa Callen

author bio -  When Alissa Callen isn't writing  she plays traffic controller to four children, three dogs, two horses and one renegade cow who really does believe the grass is greener on the other side of
  the fence. After a childhood spent chasing sheep on the family farm, Alissa has always been drawn to remote areas and small towns, even when residing overseas. Once a teacher and a counsellor, she remains interested in the life journeys that people take and her books are characteristically heart-warming, emotional and character driven. She currently lives on a small slice of rural Australia in  central western New South Wales.

social media info - Face book page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alissa-CallenAuthor/355366704552838

 Website:  www.alissacallen.com

Book/buy link: Beneath Outback Skies http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/alissa-callen/beneath-outback-skies-9780857980397.aspx